Freedom!

Hello everyone!! These weeks seriously just keep blurring together. Writing is getting harder and harder each week. hahah but I am seriously just loving every moment out here. Its SO so precious to me. The Lord is teaching me a lot about time and how valuable it is. The time that I spend with each investigator is a lot more..i dunno ..bold? haha Im feeling such a sense of urgency that the time to change is NOW. there isn't time to just come and share a message and make them feel good, It's about progression. I just want these people to progress and change through the atonement! The joy that comes from repentence is amazing and the best way to do that is to challenge them! My trainer once taught me that if you truly love these people you will invite them to repent, you will be bold and state exactly what it is the Lord wants them to do. That is what I'm trying to do:) I just love these people so much. They are all doing amazing! Sister Chambers STILL has not smoked and is preparing to receive her patriarchal blessing! She invited us to it so im SUPER excited about that! miracle: During our district meeting we were told to go out and blitz our area! we drove with the sisters until we saw someone. In a matter on minuites there is a man coming down the street. I felt so strongly to get out of the car so we pulled over and ran after him! it was awesome. He stopped and we taught him about the book of Mormon and he loved it! He said he would be baptized if he knew it was true so we got his address and now we're teaching him! It was truly tender mercy of the lord! There are so many people around us we just need to listen tot the spirit to guide us on where to go and what to do. He is teaching me more and more of what His voice sounds like. One thing I love SOOOO much about this work is the spirit. It helps my eyes be wide open, my mind is clearer, and my heart is constantly full. I would say the hardest thing about that is that my heart is sometime too full. hahah when things don't work out or people Choooose unrighteousness it literally breaks my heart. I can completely sympathize with Alma as he just cried and cried over the wickedness of "His bretheren". IT KILLS ME to see these people not progress. From those experiences tho I have been better able to understand the importance of Gods will. That no matter how badly I want something to work out- the Lord loves them more than I could ever fathom and he STILL allows them to choose. EVEN WHEN HE KNOWS IT WILL BRING THEM UNHAPPINESS! that completely blows my mind. To love someone that much is amazing to me. I hope and pray that I will have the strength to gain that attribute as a mother. If there is one things I know without a shadow of a doubt, it's that freedom brings true growth. "I give unto you a knowledge, and it shall make you free" I love you all and pray and PRAY you will have missionary experiences!!:) -sister scott

Modest is Hottest..... LITERALLY!

Hello everyone! This has been one HOT week. I'm not even kidding, EVERY SINGLE DAY has reached above 100. that's like the norm. If I come outside and I don't cook immediately I say "wow its only like 94 right now...not bad." Oh and not to mention we're the ONLY people in Lewiston that like to wear clothing. haha you gotta get real creative as a sister to lighten up on the clothing and still remain modest. cardians and all.. Its a struggle. But the sunsets here in the summer time are seriously amazing. In our new apartment we have a small deck you can see all the way to the clear water and snake river! I found a rocking chair no one wanted and I put it outside for nightly planning:) its a dream. We also have the BEST neighbors. they are yong colledge student who have smore parties almost every night and we sit around their grill and talk about religious stuff. They will be baptized one day. Another Plus about summer time here is the PRODUCE. I swear I will have a monstrous garden when im home and just live off of that. The best is there is wild plants everywhere by our apartment. Every morning we go walking or running and I go up the hill and stop at my Plum-cott tree (Plum and apricot mix) then the wild blackberry bushes at the top, pick the cherry tree on the way down, then apricots if the neighbors aren't outside (just kidding they said I could have some). That's basically my breakfast so work out time kills two birds with one stone. Not to mention the ward members all have cows and chickens so we're always stocked with eggs. I love Lewiston. We get to do LOTS of fun service too. This week an investigator in another area asked to get some help from some missionaries. We show up to this big metal fence and she said she needed help moving it from one side of her yard to the other. I checked the posts.. "Yep its cemented into the ground." Not one elder showed up that morning. No matter, 6 sisters did and we learned that IF THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY. We did it. Don't ask me how. Actually the power of God, that's how. It was awesome. I also loaded a uhal the other day and I've officially learned the tecniques of loading couches, beds, and giant 1000 lb dressers. Who needs elders? Not these sistas. We do a lot of gardening and things like that too which I love. Miracles: A couple months ago me and sister woodfield got a referral for a former investigator named Dave Spence. before I was there they tried his house many times and he never answered. So we tried calling and calling with no luck. Months later me and sister Brown are contacting some less actives in North Lewiston and that area is huge and not very populated so we don't spend a lot of time there. But I felt for some reason we needed to park further down the street just in case someone starts walking outside. 105 degrees with a tumble weed blowing cross the street. We headed back to our car and In the corner of my eye is see this man up this looong drive way sitting on his porch. He was smoking a cigarette and sister Brown looked at me and said "He looks like he'll shoot us if we step foot on his property" haha but we ask the spirit and we felt good about it so me marched up the steep driveway with him watching us the whole way up(it was really awkward) but finally I called out and said "Hey! sir! How are you doing today?!" after a long walk over to us he asked if we could share a message with him, ASKED us. We had an awesome discussion with him!! Turns out he has been reading the Book of Mormon every night, he use to attend church, but he hasn't been able to quit smoking for years so he couldn't be baptized. His doctor told him he would die if he stopped, but I know the Atonement is stronger than ANY doctor! when I asked him his name he said "David." after a long pause the spirit yelled in my ear ITS DAVE SPENCE!! "Is your last name spence?" "Yes it is" it was crazy!! Such a miracle the Lord led us strait to him. Situations like that have happened so many times it's crazy. In a whole city, the Lord leads us exactly where he wants us to be. There is no other explanation! I cant describe how greatful I am for this time to see the Lords hand so actively! He lives and His work is not frustrated by man. He is perfect and His plan is a happy one. Follow it! I love you all so much and your continually in my prayers:) -sister scott made a booth for pioneer day celebration!:) the kids loved it..thats about it

STRUGGLES!

Sorry it's a short letter!

This week has seriously flown by, I don't even know what has happened. hahah To update you on all those we're teaching: Lori, Micahlyn, and akeira(no clue on the spelling): But they are all incredible. Lori got out of jail last December with nothing but the clothes on her back. She now has her own apartment, car, and has gotten 3 out of her 4 children back from foster care. She has been through more than any women I know. She invited us to come to her addiction recovery graduation down town and we did that on thurday! We passed around a "serenity" rock and listed ways Lori has impacted our lives and gave her a spiritual gift to continue forward with:) It was so odd but SO COOL! It took everything in my power not to make all those women stand up and recite the young womens theme together! Seriously that would've made my life! The spirit was so strong in there tho. Lori and her daughters are progressing SO well in the gospel! It has given her so much strength to continue forward pursuing joy that will last her and her family forever! Well..no time to update you on everyone else so I will just leave you with my testimony!! Holy smokes the Lord has taught me so much this week. Things are getting a little crazy knowing they're not going to last forever. He helps me find so much joy in the little things and continues to bless me as I live with a greatful heart. He truly has made the impossible possible for me out here. Progression is something I have gained a deep appreciation for. That is all He wants for His children. He promised me that If I use His atonement my imperfections will be perfect for what is needed in that moment and He never demands I be successful, just faithful. It feels so good to do His work. It changes you:) -sister scott

Proof the atonement is stronger than addiction. I could die of joy. The temple is finally more important to her than the things of this world:) we are preparing to go together in the fall!

ED!!!....and TRANSFER BEGUN! New Companion Sister Brown

hELLO family!! Well, the atonement is real. Crazy awesome week of transfers. Sister Woody is now in Spokane and I go to pick up sister Brown on Tuesday in Moscow! Then the next day we traveled to spokane for MLC then we trained at Zone Conference on Wednesday! The whole first part of the week was pretty much a Bluuurr. BUT that did not keep up from our proselyting duties! Every place we stopped and got out and talked to everyone we saw, Found some new investigators for some lucky missionaries and gave away tons of mormon.org cards. Talking to people is probably one of my favorite things in the whole world, Its like an art. Going up to a total stranger and getting to know their life and background by a few questions on their religious beliefs and solving all lives problems with a simple message that Christ is their Savor! The spirit is incredible. I love it. For the past few months i have been keeping tabs on Ed, in my last area. Ed is like my best friend in the whole world out here. Some of the most sacred lessons of my mission have been with Ed. They said he was doing awesome, Finally quite smoking or a little while then bam, last week started up again and for some reason stopped letting the missionaries come to his home. On our way back from MLC (which is in my last area Belle Terre) I had a strong feeling that I needed to go and see him. President gave me permission to go so i hurry and wrote him a letter on the drive over and was so surprised with how bold i was being with him. I felt so strongly to say the things i did and and i loved him too much NOT to say those thongs..so..I did it. I was praying the whole way over that he would be home cause i knew he worked this hour and sure enough we show up and his door is wide open!!and he's sitting there smoking a cigarette, "ED!" i screamed, "OHh well, sisstter..i uh" he was so shocked haha "WHat you doin ED?!" we started to laugh and he came out side and we talked. He is such a humble man. He's gotten into some bad things and made some mistakes, I bore my testimony to him and said how Heavenly Father sent me to kick him in the butt and say "get moving!" "dont you dare take your eyes off the temple ed!" He said he wouldn't and we just cried. Ugh Ed.. He will forever have a place in my heart! He's taught me so much. I've learned a lot about finding true lasting happiness in life and why it is essential to CLING to the gospel with everything you have. Satan will do all he can to cloud our visions of whats most important and all our Heavenly Father asks for is progression. If we stand still we back slide. Everyday we choose to step closer to Him, we become more free. I'm learning the Atonement is what gives us the energy to do so. Its SO real!​ I'm so grateful for transfers. It's tough getting use to change, but it helps me to come to know my Savior a lot more. Its so worth it. When things are unfamiliar my eyes are more focused, me heart is more open, and my hears and more in tune to hear His voice. I have seen miracles this week and I know its all because of HIM!! He is so good! What he's taught me this week is Love is all you need as a missionary. Love Him, Love them, and Love yourself. you do that, everything else falls into place. Change is nothing cause His love is ALWAYS familiar. I expect you all to get your butts out there and do some missionary work!!! Times a tickin! Love y'all! BYe! -sister scott This is ED!

Sister Brown!

Transfer Calls!

Not a lot of time to write..BUT here is my companions email since we experience the same thing:) hahah better than nothing right? We go transfer calls last night and i am saying in Lewiston 1s ward and getting a new companion Sister Brown!!! Sister Woodfield is leaving to spokane valley:( I will miss her so incredibly much, but i am ready for whatever the Lord has planned. enjoy! """The musical for the Book of Mormon is coming to Spokane in August and we are being prepared. They did a seminar in 3rd hour yesterday preparing the members. It was incredible. The musical does not promote the church, but no matter how hard satan tries, the Lord always has a plan. Even if it takes a terrible musical to get the members to fire up with missionary work, let it be done! The Lord will bring to pass His work! I know this play is gonna bring a lot of anti and questions, but the Lord is helping us prepare! We're excited!!! And now I'm going to Spokane where it's going to be playing! Wish me luck! Lots of prayers needed:) Lets hope the slogan "The Book is always better!" gets people into the Book of Mormon, and once they are, they're done for:) I am super excited! The biggest miracle this week was getting to finally meet with Sister Gettman. She is a less active from mexico. She served a mission and everything. But she had a lot of hard trials in her life and were really hard on her:( She is not doing well right now and just wants to go back to Arizona where all her kids are. We were able to powerfully teach her about the Atonement and Plan that God has for her! It was amazing to brighten her day. Sometime on the verge of not wanting to live anymore was able to be brought to the light of the gospel. I know He is aware of her, and is taking care of her. She keeps holding on for a reason! Don't listen to the thoughts satan puts into your head, you are of infinite worth! The Lord loves you! Yes, life is unfair, but as we are faithful, all things will work out! I know that is true! I know the Lord lives. I know we have a Heavenly Father! I know that not everyone is interested in the gospel at this time, but plant a good seed! Make a difference to someone each day:) """" isnt she great? I love sister Woodfield. This quote is from one of my absolute favorite talks ever and I challenge you all to read it.Elder Bednars talk "That we might not Shrink" “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire” Love you all!!! bye!:) -sister scott

ps. Im officially the sister hair cutter..Cutting hair is like the atonement...the more practice you get with it the happier your life is!

The McFarland's Baptism!! These two are the most Elect Children I have ever met! Teaching them has helped me to gain a much greater understanding of why the Lord asks us to become as a little child.

COW BRANDING?? & "Nice to see you Again!"

Hello family!! YA. i knew you were in Disney World WAYYY before you email me. I felt it in my bones. Plus i have connections up here in Lewiston.. But it's ok because I have decided to forgive you. Preachin the Gospel is greater than any wonderful....amazing...magical fantacy ride at an amusement park. Just Kidding I truly truly would not be anywhere else in the whole world right now:) IT WAS AN AMAZING WEEK! To sum a lot of it up: This week we got a mini missionary names Sister McCumbie. She is from Cheney Washington. Out here they do "trial missions" for ages 16- 18 and they get to live with the missionaries for a week to get a feel for a mission and prepare! It is the coolest thing. These youth over here are seriously incredible. I cant even imagine the generation of missionaries the Lord is preparing to serve! But she really opened my eyes to how big of an adjustment i've made to my life. Missions seriously change you so much. Well, the Lord does, but a mission provides the most perfect situation to really clue in to what is most important in life and let go of the things in the world you don't need! It's freeing..if that makes sense. Our first service we got to take her to was COW BRANDING. Yep thats right... the farm, the cattle, the cow ramps and machinery, the whole kit and cabootle, as they say (not even sure what that means) but we got to be legit ranchers this week. I of course did not participate in the harming of the animals, but I was front and center of the whole rounding them up and putting them into different pens..Its like an at I swear! they have this whole crazy awesome system! I was tryng to relate it to the gospel the whole time.. how we all experience trials that brand us..and ya..haha It was funny. I got to meet the most incredible indian man! The first day in the Lewiston ward I pointed him out to my companion and said, "I want to know his story" and my companion looked at me like I was some weirdo, but I remember feeling a great need to talk to him! (10 weeks later) we had ended up knocking on his door and him and his wife invited us in for a lesson! We had no lesson prepared and I again felt that strong feeling to ask them about their conversion story. He started to explain his back round of growing up a member of the Lacotta tribe in the black hills and how he swore he would NEVER join the Mormon church or get married OR have children (he's all that with 10 kids now) but one day he sat in on a lesson and held the Book of Mormon in his hands. He said something about the book spoke to him and how he knew that he needed to read it and that is was a story about his people! He is of Lamenite blood!!! crazy..anyway he read it and joined immediately. His whole conversion story is insane but one thing that blew my mind is that once he went to general conference and Elder Uchdorf came and shook his hand and said "Nice to see you again" and he had never met or seen him before! His tribe that he participates in every now and then is so completely connected to the gospel its amazing the similarities. but that just blew my mind. THE BOOK OF MORMON IS SO REAL. Which reminds me..the Book of Mormon musical is coming to our mission..yaaaaaay:)Its ok tho because the church get the whole 2 pages of the program to advertise "now you've seen the musical..go and read the book!" haha it should be fun to see the commentary..bring on the anti. which reminds me of something else! That pastor I taught the other week I invited him to come here me speak in sacrament! Pastor Budah..He is a great guy but he apologized for being so busy that day that he sent his son and grand daughter to our church to see it and said he would come another week when he's not so busy..planting seeds! But he invited us to attend his congregation and when I brought it up to our ward mission leader he got to excited we couldn't refuse(reminded him of his old mission days haha)...So yesterday i had great experience attending Pastor Budahs's congregation. It was cool to see but I just felt like something was missing the whole time. The spirit was so much different there and they're known to preach a lot of anti which brings a completely different spirit to the meeting...He ended up apologizing to us from the pulpit for the things he had planned on preaching but changed because we were there...that must have been eye opening to some people i hope.. but it seriously was the best experience for me. The Lord really helped me to recognize that there is no bit of doctrine or scripture that I could pull up to anyone that could convince them that this is Christs church. The spirit is the ONLY way to know and understand. Without an open heart and a willing mind the spirit litereally cannot bear witness. I'm learning that now, that conversion has absolutely nothing to do with me and the information I'm able to give. It's great so support their learning but unless they act in faith know sincerely whats true, it's just information. My purpose as a missionary is to invite others to receive that witness for themselves. and as much as it breaks my heart that Pastor Budah possible might not be ready..I truly feel in my heart that If i diligently plant these seeds, the Lord will nourish them in a way much better then I could . He is the master of the vineyard and He teaches me every​​day that “The work will be light and easy to bear if You will depend on the Lord and work. Love you all! -sister scott

Power of Prayer and HITTING THE MARK!!

Hello everyone!! Mini miracles: One day we had to leave our area to go teach this less active and her non member friend. We were already running late and forgot to call the elders to get permission to leave our area and go downtown. We pulled over to the side of the road right on our boundary line(we wanted to be exactly obedient ok?) and waited and waited for the elders to call us back. Finally I said "Ok sister, we need to pray. If we have sufficient faith, the spirit will prompt the elders to se there phone!" At the end of the prayer we get a call from Elder De Olivera saying "Hey is everything ok sisters? We were doing service for our neighbor and I got this strong feeling we needed to gte our phone in the house and call you." THE LORD ANSWERS PRAYERS! especially when you are exactly obedient:) Then one day me and sister Woodfield were giving a training and the video we planned to watch wouldnt work. I made everyone get on their knees right then and pray! haha In my prayer I asked according to our faith and His will to help the video to work so we could continue on with our training. The moment we said amen, we stood up and THE VIDEO WORKED! The Lord is so good. He is more than willing to help his children when they need Him. We just need to have the faith to see it! Something I have loved learning about with faith is that those is the scriptures see miracles and people healed from their faith. I have found it takes a lot greater deal of faith to NOT see those miracles tho. I often ask myself the question "Do you have the Faith NOT to be healed if its not the Lord will?" With that, the Lord is able to work a lot more through His children. This week we got to have interviews with our president. It's always good to see them! Sister Mullen is like my mother out here I love her sooo much. We could just talk for hours and hours about the gospel. She is so knowledgeable! She makes me want to be a mission presidents wife so i can study the characteristics of all the missionaries and completely figure out the human brain and the gospel at the same time! haha SHE IS INCREDIBLE! She has taught me soo much about how the gospel relates back to everything. One thing we talked about in our interview was how in order to progress we need to set a goal to reach for. One that will make us stretch. I'm seeing how the weight of the world can pull you to extreme that make you miss the "mark". Right now I'm just focusing on hitting the mark at all times. The mark is the Lords Will. No matter what banner i set for myself as long as i am progressing i can KNOW that my Father in Heaven is proud of me and i can find joy in that! My time here is so precious to me and I want to do ALL that I can, as hard as I can, for as long as I can. I don't want to waist a single second out here, but even that can push me to go beyond the mark. I know my Heavenly Father wants nothing less then for me to find joy so my focus is to not run myself into the ground but continually do all in my power, then give the rest to the Lord. Joseph Smith words ALWAYS bring me peace:) "Therefore dearly Beloved brethren, Let us CHEERFULLY do all that lie in our power, then may we stand still with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God and for His arm to be revealed" Standing still is different then doing nothing. Its having a confidence that as you do your best, His grace will enable you to hit the mark every time. We don't need to look to the world for approval or support, that is by far the fastest way to depression and emptiness. We must all "look to God and live". His love fills you perfectly every time! I'm living proof of that! This truly is His work and it cannot be frustrated by man! I'm learning a lot about relying upon the Lord for ALL I do, cause i know that's the only way to be successful. When I take it on myself, I gets heavy. With Him, my yoke is light and easy to bear:) I challenge you all to rely upon the Lord or ALL you do! Not just in the hard times but in the good times as well. its in those moments that we think we don't, that we truly need Him the most. I love you all sooo much!! Pray, read and share the gospel!!!:) -sister scott ps: shout out to the greatest father of all time HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!!!!!! no one in the whole world could have prepared me better for this time than you have. I reflect back to our "coffee talks"(life talks) ALL THE TIME! and every time I drink my herbal tea I think of you and get stoked thinking about our Isaiah marathons and deep doctrine studies with you when I'm home! there has been countless times that advice you have given me throughout the years has blessed the lives of so many I have taught out here including mine. You are my hero and my best friend. I LOVE YOU DAD! Me and My Best friend and Companion doing what we do!